Gayle King has called the rumor that
she and Oprah Winfrey are in a lesbian relationship “stupid.”

The 57-year-old King recently joined
CBS This Morning as a co-anchor and is an editor-at-large for
O, The Oprah Magazine.

Rumors that King and Winfrey are
involved in a romantic relationship have swirled for years.

King told Vanity
Fair that she met Winfrey while working in Baltimore.

“Oprah and I have been friends since
I was 21,” King said. “We met at a television station in
Baltimore, WJZ. She was the anchor at the station, and I was hired
as a production assistant/writer. You normally don't see the anchor
hanging out with the production assistant, but it so speaks to who
she is.”

And on those persistent gay rumors,
King said, “Well, it used to be upsetting to me when it first
happened years ago. But now, to me, it's so stupid. It doesn't
bother me in the least. The thing that troubles me more than
anything is that, if we were, why would we keep it a secret? Hiding
it would not be her philosophy or my philosophy. That's why it's
just so stupid to me.”